The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty to the ear, or to the mind.
ZhuangziRead
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the limitations of human knowledge and the importance of acknowledging the unknown.
Zhuangzi's quote reflects on the nature of human understanding and the often unrecognized dependence on knowledge that lies beyond our immediate comprehension. It suggests that while people tend to value what they know, they fail to appreciate the vastness of what remains unknown and how this shapes their existence and understanding of the world.
Themes
KnowledgeIgnoranceDependenceWisdomUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the nature of science and discovery.
More from Zhuangzi
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When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as ignorance.
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The true man of the past waited upon Heaven when dealing with people and did not wait upon people when dealing with Heaven.
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The mind remains undetermined in the great Void. Here the highest knowledge is unbounded. That which gives things their thusness cannot be delimited by things. So when we speak of 'limits', we remain confined to limited things. The limit of the unlimited is called 'fullness.' The limitlessness of the limited is called 'emptiness.' Tao is the source of both. But it is itself neither fullness nor emptiness
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All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.
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